Archive for March, 2012

ShareJohn 13:1-17 This meditation is really a Maundy Thursday meditation, but here it is on the Saturday before Holy Week. Jesus says to you today: “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). This name, “Maundy Thursday,” comes […]

ShareJohn 12:44-50 I’ve got a radical idea! Let’s try an experiment in reading this passage. How would it enrich our understanding of God’s Word today and our understanding of our call to be the apostles (“sent ones”) and martyrs (“witnesses”) if we read Jesus’ loud cry of verses 44-50, substituting our names for His? With […]

ShareJohn 12:34-43 In this passage, John 12:34-43, we have one of the most striking contrasts between the presence and grace of God and the resistance of men to God. Then God said, “Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God divided the light from the […]

ShareJohn 12:20-33 “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” “Here comes the good part,” I’m thinking to myself. My hopes and dreams are fanned into life by the breath of Jesus’ words, and once again I can’t wait for Him to be glorified. I am greatly encouraged as well by […]

ShareJohn 12:12-19 “Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and riding on a donkey.” John’s Gospel doesn’t have the word “lowly,” as does Zechariah’s prophecy, but it is the word I most want to focus on this morning. The disciples did not at this time understand these things. Only after Jesus was glorified did […]

ShareJohn 12:1-11 I love the family from Bethany! It was obvious how much the Lord loved them and how much they loved Him in return. In this love, both that which is received and that which is given, they are a picture of our lives lived in communion and love with the Holy Trinity. For […]

ShareMark 13:24-37 “Watch ye, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping!” These words are one of the opening sentences for Evening Prayer from the Prayer […]

ShareAnglican Religious Identity and History – Part I In an earlier blog, I offered the following one-sentence definition of Anglicanism: “Anglicanism is the life of the Catholic Church that was planted in England in the first few centuries after Christ; reshaped decisively by the English Reformation that reformed the received catholic traditions and also by […]

ShareMark 13:14-23 For a number of reasons, I believe this passage and others like it are primarily about the cataclysmic events that happened in the first century. Without belaboring the point, it’s worth noting that Jesus is talking to His first century disciples and assuming that they will not only understand these things but also […]

ShareMark 13:1-13 The situation that Jesus describes seems remotely close and familiar. It stretches back to the first century A.D. and all the way into my little study here in Tyler, Texas in the 21st century (it still seems cool and futuristic to me to say that I live in the 21st century!) What Jesus […]

Parents as Pastors – The Prayer Book and the Anglican Family

Give Us This Day – Matthew

SharePossibly the Most Important Theological Work of the 20th Century Pope John Paul II’s “Man and Woman He Created Them,” popularly known as “A Theology of the Body” may be the most important theological work of the 20th century. I say this because John Paul II is not only a first-rate theologian but also because […]

ShareExcellent Analysis of Eastern Orthodox Conversions in America Amy Slagle’s “The Eastern Church in the Spiritual Marketplace” is an excellent, scholarly look at conversions to Eastern Orthodoxy in America. As an Anglican priest and professor, I’ve been interested in Eastern Orthodoxy, and especially the churches in the U.S. However, information other than that provided by […]

ShareStriking New Insights Into the Rise and Growth of Christianity I’m a big fan of Rodney Stark because his works are both scholarly and readable, as well as being well-argued, well-researched, and positively revelatory. His new book, “The Triumph of Christianity,” is similar to his earlier work, “The Rise of Christianity.” However he not only […]

ShareWise and Wonderful, Profound and Practical Marriage is clearly a troubled institution in American culture, and that includes even among American Christians. The problem is that so often Christians have accepted the world’s definitions of marriage. While many Christian books have been written on marriage, Tim Keller’s “The Meaning of Marriage” is one of the […]

ShareGood Material but Too Episodic and Superficial Albert Moehler is a Christian phenomenon. His presence for the good of God’s Kingdom seems to be everywhere, and finally he’s written a book. While I agree with almost all that Moehler has to say in “Culture Shift” I still don’t think it’s a great book. This is […]